Death rates higher when red and processed meats are eaten daily, according to Mayo Clinic reviewers

American Osteopathic Association

A review of large-scale studies involving more than 1.5 million people found all-cause mortality is higher for those who eat meat, particularly red or processed meat, on a daily basis. Conducted by physicians from Mayo Clinic in Arizona, “Is Meat Killing Us?” was published today in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

The authors analyzed six studies that evaluated the effects of meat and vegetarian diets on mortality with a goal of giving primary care physicians evidence-based guidance about whether they should discourage patients from eating meat. Their recommendation: physicians should advise patients to limit animal products when possible and consume more plants than meat.

“This data reinforces what we have known for so long – your diet has great potential to harm or heal,” said Brookshield Laurent, DO, assistant professor of family medicine and clinical sciences at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This clinical-based evidence can assist physicians in counseling patients about the important role diet plays, leading to improved preventive care, a key consideration in the osteopathic philosophy of medicine.”

While findings for U.S. and European populations differed somewhat, the data found the steepest rise in mortality at the smallest increases of intake of total red meat. That 2014 study followed more than one million people over 5.5 to 28 years and considered the association of processed meat (such as bacon, sausage, salami, hot dogs and ham), as well as unprocessed red meat (including uncured, unsalted beef, pork, lamb or game).

A 2014 meta-analysis examined associations with mortality from cardiovascular disease and ischemic heart disease. In that study of more than 1.5 million people, researchers found only processed meat significantly increase the risk for all-cause mortality.

Combined, the findings of these studies are statistically significant in their similarity, the reviewers noted. Further, a 2003 review of more than 500,000 participants found a decreased risk of 25 percent to nearly 50 percent of all-cause mortality for very low meat intake compared with higher meat intake.

They also found a 3.6-year increase in life expectancy for those on a vegetarian diet for more than 17 years, as compared to short-term vegetarians.

The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association (JAOA) is the official scientific publication of the American Osteopathic Association. Edited by Robert Orenstein, DO, it is the premier scholarly peer-reviewed publication of the osteopathic medical profession. The JAOA’s mission is to advance medicine through the publication of peer-reviewed osteopathic research.

A woman is more likely to miscarry if she and her partner drink more than two caffeinated beverages a day during the weeks leading up to conception, according to a new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Ohio State University, Columbus. Similarly, women who drank more than two daily caffeinated beverages during the first seven weeks of pregnancy were also more likely to miscarry.

However, women who took a daily multivitamin before conception and through early pregnancy were less likely to miscarry than women who did not. The study was published online in Fertility and Sterility.

“Our findings provide useful information for couples who are planning a pregnancy and who would like to minimize their risk for early pregnancy loss,” said the study’s first author, Germaine Buck Louis, Ph.D., director of the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The researchers analyzed data from the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study, which was established to examine the relationship between fertility, lifestyle and exposure to environmental chemicals. The LIFE Study enrolled 501 couples from four counties in Michigan and 12 counties in Texas, from 2005 to 2009.

For the current study, researchers compared such lifestyle factors as cigarette use, caffeinated beverage consumption and multivitamin use among 344 couples with a singleton pregnancy from the weeks before they conceived through the seventh week of pregnancy.

The researchers reported their results using a statistical concept known as a hazard ratio, which estimates the chances of a particular health outcome occurring during the study time frame. For example, the researchers evaluated caffeinated beverage consumption in terms of the daily likelihood of pregnancy loss over a given time period. A score greater than 1 indicates an increased risk for pregnancy loss each day following conception, and a score less than 1 indicates a reduced daily risk.

Of the 344 pregnancies, 98 ended in miscarriage, or 28 percent. For the preconception period, miscarriage was associated with female age of 35 or above, for a hazard ratio of 1.96 (nearly twice the miscarriage risk of younger women). The study was not designed to conclusively prove cause and effect. The study authors cited possible explanations for the higher risk, including advanced age of sperm and egg in older couples or cumulative exposure to substances in the environment, which could be expected to increase as people age.

Both male and female consumption of more than two caffeinated beverages a day also was associated with an increased hazard ratio: 1.74 for females and 1.73 for males. Earlier studies, the authors noted, have documented increased pregnancy loss associated with caffeine consumption in early pregnancy. However, those studies could not rule out whether caffeine consumption contributed to pregnancy loss or was a sign of an unhealthy pregnancy. It’s possible, the authors wrote, that these earlier findings could have been the result of a healthy pregnancy, rather than caffeine consumption interfering with pregnancy. For example, the increase in food aversions and vomiting associated with a healthy pregnancy led the women to give up caffeinated beverages.

Because their study found caffeine consumption before pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of miscarriage, it’s more likely that caffeinated beverage consumption during this time directly contributes to pregnancy loss.

“Our findings also indicate that the male partner matters, too,” Dr. Buck Louis said. “Male preconception consumption of caffeinated beverages was just as strongly associated with pregnancy loss as females’.”

Finally, the researchers saw a reduction in miscarriage risk for women who took a daily multivitamin. During the preconception period, researchers found a hazard ratio of 0.45 — a 55-percent reduction in risk for pregnancy loss. Women who continued to take the vitamins through early pregnancy had a hazard ratio of 0.21, or a risk reduction of 79 percent. The authors cited other studies that found that vitamin B6 and folic acid — included in preconception and pregnancy vitamin formulations — can reduce miscarriage risk. Folic acid supplements are recommended for women of childbearing age, as their use in the weeks leading up to and following conception reduces the risk for having a child with a neural tube defect.

Zucchini Rolls

10 Medium zucchinis make 25 rolls. Cut 30 slices of zucchini with a mandolin, rub with salt to draw out the water, pat dry and set aside. Lay 3 strips of zucchini side by side and overlapping, place a scoop of garden pate, roll and top with red pepper sauce.

Do you have questions about Morrocco Method Shampoos? Sometimes the low/no-foam chemical-free formula can take some getting used to. So let us provide you with three important tips & tricks for shampooing with Morrocco Method Shampoos.

1.Shampoo Twice

At first glance, the recommendation by the shampoo industry that we shampoo our hair twice each session sounds like a gimmick to sell more shampoo. However, there is value in this recommendation. A perfect shampoo is achieved in two parts. The first shampooing cleanses hair and scalp of dirt, dead cells and dust, which would otherwise be massaged back into the hair, scalp and follicle openings if only shampooed once. This clogging debris could retard new hair growth and severely damage the oil glands, upsetting the natural fall-out and reproductive cycles of your hair.

The second shampooing and massage of your clean hair and scalp stimulates the flow of blood to the scalp and opens the hair follicles, allowing the blood vessels to feed each root, bulb and hair shaft, nourishing the entire follicle and activating the sebaceous (oil) glands. This ensures the proper lubrication and distribution of your own natural oils to the entire scalp and hair shafts. A natural coating of oil is vital to the maintenance of a healthy scalp and hair.

2. Dilute the Shampoo

Morrocco Method Shampoos are incredibly concentrated and sometimes it can be tough making sure the shampoo is getting to your scalp and really cleansing–especially with thicker hair. We suggest diluting your shampoo in a smaller bottle with 50% shampoo and 50% water. Then, pour the mixture all over your head and massage into your scalp. You’ll be able to make sure your scalp is getting the raw nutrients from the shampoos, plus it’s the perfect time for a scalp massage.

3. Rotate All 5 Shampoos

Each shampoos is formulated based on a specific element, Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Ether. These shampoos work best when functioning as a collective whole and are meant to be rotated each time you shampoo. The easiest way to remember is to line up your shampoos and each time you shower pick up a shampoo from the right, use it, and then place it on the far left. Eventually you will work back to the beginning and start the series over.

Grow Your Own Broccoli

Broccoli is very high in the master antioxidant glutathione and other important nutrients. Like all amino acids glutathione is very heat sensitive and on average is seventy-five percent destroyed by the cooking process. Therefore, broccoli is best eaten raw.

Broccoli is a cool weather plant and does best in zones 3-7. Plant in the early spring, late summer or, in warmer climates, over the winter. Here is how to grow broccoli right in your own yard:

Start your spring crop indoors 7 to 9 weeks before the last expected frost. Fill 4” round Fertile pots with 100% organic potting mix and place in a drain pan. Plant two seeds per pot. Water and keep the soil moist but not wet. Seeds should germinate in 4 to 5 days. After the seeds germinate, place pots in a sunny area or under lights

Once the seedlings are about 6 inches tall, with 2 to 4 true leaves it is time to harden the plants. Harden by putting the young plants outdoors in a protected area (out of direct sun and wind) for one hour the first day adding two hours to the time spent outside each subsequent day for a week. Keep well-watered.

Choose a place in the yard that receives full sun. If you live in a warmer climate partial shade can help prevent the plants from bolting (going to seed.) Prepare a bed of rich, well-drained soil, with plenty of compost.

Set the young plants 1 to 2 inches deeper in the garden than they grew in the pots or flats. Space them 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart. Firm the soil and water well.

Water regularly. At least once every three days if it is not raining.

Two weeks after planting fertilize with compost tea or side dress with compost. Repeat once a month.

Spray once a week alternating between insecticidal soap and home-made plant pepper spray.

It is time to harvest before the florets start to open and turn yellow. Cut just below the point where the stems begin to separate. Once you’ve harvested the main head, tender side shoots will form in the leaf axial all along the lower stalk. Keep cutting, and broccoli will keep producing until the weather turns too hot or too cold.

Fresh-picked garden broccoli tastes much better and is more nutritious than store bought. Enjoy!

About eleven months ago, I began to feel rather nauseated, and I had no idea why. I could not eat without having the sensation to vomit, and I felt extremely fatigued after exercising (this was the least of my symptoms). A couple of weeks later, I got a weird rushing sensation throughout my whole body, and I felt like I was chemically out of balance. This really freaked me out and caused me go to the doctor, where I got the expected response, “It looks like a bit of an anxiety problem, but we will get a blood test to be certain.” I had never experienced such anxiety attacks before in my life. Once the blood results were returned, I was diagnosed with Gilbert’s syndrome, which is a liver condition (my bilirubin levels were high). Doctors labeled this as a benign disorder, yet I was left perplexed at living with such annoying symptoms.

After being hospitalized five times, the doctors still told me that Gilbert’s syndrome was nothing to worry about. This struck me as ironic, since I was experiencing severe anxiety attacks and heart palpitations, not to mention the accompanying depression, joint pain, muscular discomfort, extreme fatigue, poor memory, nausea (which led to anorexic-like symptoms due to being unable to eat), terrible headaches, irritable bowel, low body temperature, and an overall toxic feeling. Once I detailed all of this again for the physicians, they thought I had something more serious, perhaps chronic fatigue syndrome. I realized I was becoming a hypochondriac. I was developing into an agoraphobic home dweller, who had reached his retirement at the age of thirty!

I couldn’t go anywhere without the sensation that I was going to die and help was not at hand. The doctors continued giving me prescription after prescription to help me with the multifaceted discomforts and depression. Since my liver was already malfunctioning, the drugs only served to worsen my condition. My liver was only producing enzymes at 30 percent of the normal rate, and my body was riddled with toxins, which were wreaking havoc. I learned that my joint pain was due to the toxic buildup, which was giving me arthritis-like sensations.

In search of a solution, I began to change my diet, and I noticed a smidgen of relief. I could not consume any fatty food without vomiting (perhaps this was a blessing in disguise). I tried one product after another from health shops, as I continued to see new physicians in pursuit of something to alleviate the drudgery of living. Striving to exercise my body daily was a tough pill to swallow, as I would feel knackered from just fifteen minutes of walking. I was not only a physical wreck but an emotional one.

Then I discovered an organic shop in New Zealand, where I was advised to take a shot of wheat grass each day. I was bewildered by this, as I only associated this kind of thing with grazing animals. But I was desperate enough to try almost anything at this point. The first day I took it I felt absolutely horrible; I was bedridden. Oddly enough, the next day I felt okay. After taking it for three days, I perceived a difference when I went for my usual fifteen-minute walk (all I could previously muster) and noticed I wasn’t feeling tired. Two days later, I felt like never before; I was rather energetic. I thought some sort of a miracle had happened, but no, the wheatgrass had helped my body to get to the correct nutritional balance, just as my liver had thrown it out of whack. I couldn’t believe it! I felt like I had been reborn!

I had such zeal that I recommended wheat grass to a friend who was born with a degenerative condition and had only one kidney. Nearing dialysis, he took it habitually, and what do you know—his blood pressure normalized; something that had not been achieved with his medication.

I now heartily believe in consuming wheat grass, and I desire to share its wonders with others. Upon learning that the Hippocrates Health Institute utilizes wheat grass as an integral component of their program, I contacted them with my story so that I could do my part in spreading the word to others who may be suffering as I had been.

How to make cilantro pesto for a natural mercury detox

Almost everyone has been exposed to mercury and other heavy metals. Just some of the sources of exposure include air pollution, nonstick cookware, cosmetics, vaccines, dental
amalgam fillings, cigarette smoke, conventional household cleaning products, and contaminated food products.Cilantro (aka coriander or Chinese parsley) has been shown to bond with mercury and other metals and help remove them from the body. Even better effects have been shown when cilantro is used in conjunction with chlorella.

Here is a safe, tasty, DIY pesto recipe which can help eliminate heavy metals from your body.

Power of intention can help you, but it can also get in your way. Power must be blended with the flow of grace in your life. All power has to have this balance of alignment with the Divine Will otherwise our intention becomes egocentric. Even with good intentions, we have to be mindful of this. Is the intention coming from you or from your ego? This can be a hard question. We don’t always have the answer to that. As we get more aligned with the divine unfolding, intention expresses from that Divine Will alignment rather than from ego. Even if it appears to be a good intention, the question is: “Is it aligned with the Divine Force?” What is also needed, along with that intention, is netzach or perseverance. This is the follow-through to manifest the intention. You may have the greatest of intentions, and yet the energetic follow-through doesn’t take you there. We may have visions or be a visionary, but there is also that second level of divine force necessary to see it through. One issue with that is that if you try too hard, it can also throw things out of balance. How do you know how hard to try or how far to go?

This is not an easy question. There is a time to push hard to make something happen and there is also a time not to push hard. This takes us to the discrimination aspect of spiritual life. It’s not like there is a rule to this. We like the safety of rules, but they can get into the way. We can start out moderately and then assess what is happening.

This can be applied to spiritual life as well as to relationships. Using two metaphors of intimacy can give us some insights on proper use of intention. In relationships people can override the flow by trying too hard. On the other hand, if you do not try hard enough you don’t really work through your family of origin issues or your intra-psychic issues. Yet, it does happen that sometimes people get in the way of the process by trying too hard. However, today it is more common not to try hard enough. One has to be in a relationship long enough for the family of origin and intro-psychic issues to begin to surface (what is sometimes called the 7-year itch) and then long enough for these to be worked through. One is making a certain intimate relationship investment. Once again, we must access where to find the balance. This is where the development of internal guidance is essential. It is important to continue to question our intention and our situation. If we don’t even ask the questions we are not close enough.

A teacher’s support lends experience and overview for the question. Someone you trust can provide you with feedback motivated by no personal investment beyond one’s upliftment. At some point it is still up to you, which requires a certain amount of self-examination. This is true for examining what is needed in relationships. For a healthy relationship, there needs to be a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual connection. This is fundamental. If you only have a wonderful mental connection or sexual connection, it is not the fullest multifaceted connection. This is where one must look at their intentions and ask oneself, “What am I doing here?” and “Is there enough love to motivate me to work through my family of origin issues?” and “Am I in the right situation for me to be able to evolve?” One of my spiritual teachers used the metaphor that it is better to have one 100-foot well than ten 10-foot deep wells. Many today are digging a lot of shallow holes. Depth and quality of character doesn’t get developed in the process. The relationship isn’t valued. There isn’t the willingness to dig the 100-foot hole in order to hit the water of cosmic connection. Part of this is intuitive. There are times when people have to go with the intuition that they can trust where the relationship is going even when things get rough or inconvenient. The questions we ask during this process are heart-felt questions.

This is a part of the big picture. For me the big picture is to die into the Nothing. It is to merge with God. Part of the big picture is fulfillment of one’s individual dharma. Are we aligned with our individual dharma’s unique expression and also Cosmic Divine Dharma. If individual dharma and divine dharma are in alignment then it yields perspective on your intention. At times we may know that despite the difficulty, we are to keep working. At other times, we may know that struggling may not be the best use of time and energy. The spiritual path is about going into the unknown, and it is important to inquire if we are in the right place to blossom. Both the dharma to know the Divine and the individual dharma must be aligned to bring the highest level of power of intention into our activities. May everybody be blessed with proper application of power of intention in your lives.